Half to heney s



(No Model.)

J. B. GAUGHEY.

TOBAGGU LAT'H HOLDER.

N0. 373.721. Patented Nov. 22, 1887.

a Wil-Es; a

UNITED STATns PATENT Orricn.4

JOHN B. CAUGHEY, OF BARTVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO HENRY S. KEYLOR, OF SAME PLACE.

TO BACGOT-LATH HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part o1' Letters Patent No. 373,721 dated November 22, 1887.

A indication tiled January 6, 1887. Serial No. 223,549. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Beit known that I. JOHN B. OAUGHEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bartville, in the county of Lancaster and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Tobacco-Luth Holdeis, oi which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to improvements in devices for holding the lath upon which tobacco` plants are strung for drying.

Vhen tobacco -plants are cut from the ground,they are strung upon latli i'or the purpose of drying, the lath having a pointed instrument temporarily attached to one end, which is forced through the but-ts ofthe plants. Each lath has as many plants strung thereon as it can hold without crowding them, so as to prevent the free circulation of air through the leaves. When the tobacco is sufficiently cured,it is removed from the lath by stripping the whole lot off ci' each lath at the same time; but as the plants have dried on the wood the exertion of considerable force is required to .f get them ofi", and unless there are two persons working together the job is tedious and awkward.

'lhe object of my invention is to hold the lat-h firmlyv in position while stripping the plants therefrom. I attain this object hy the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure I is a View of the end of my device in which the lath is inserted with the clamp open; Fig. 2, a view ofthe same with the clamp closed; Fig. 3, a perspective view of the back of the holder; Fig. 4, an elevation showing the front, and Fig. 5 a horizontal section through the line :c .fr of Fig. 2.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The frame or body A of the holder is provided with arms a a at the rear edge, placed at right angles with each other, so as to permit it to be rmly secured to the angle of a building or partition. The bottom c is thickened and has an opening, cd, cut therein to receive the lath L. The hack end of the opening is closed to prevent the lath being pushed th roi1gli,and the middle portion of the front side is cut away and recessed, as shown at a?, to receive the clamp B. The clamp B is pivoted at the upper end between the jaws j, curving outward from the top of the frame, and has the lower end, b, thickened to enter the recess at c3. The inner i'ace of the end b is convex in vertical section and the surface is serrated to enable it to engage more iirmly with the lath it is to hold. A tightening-rod, C, passes through horizontal openings in the clamp and frame above the point at which the lath is held, the inner end being provided with an arm, c, which hears against a spiral-faced lug, D,'that surrounds the opening through which the rod passes ou the back ofthe frame, and the outer end with a winch, E, by which the rod is turned. By turning the winch in one direction the arm c, by its movement in, passing over the face of the lug D, draws the clamp inward to the frame and closes it upon the lath previously placed in the opening in the bottom of the said frame, while the opposite movement of the winch reverses the action of the clamp. By pressing outward on the winch as it is turned to loosen the cla-mp the end of the arm c is caused to engage with a slot, d, cut in the thick end of the lug between it and the back of the frame, whereby the clamp is held open while one lat-h is being withdrawn from the holder and another introduced. In order to facilitate this movement a spring is coiled about the rod Obetween the clamp and frame,which acts to force the two apart.

` As will be readily understood from the foie going description, a lath can be easily secured in the holder and the tobacco stripped from it by one person.

I do not confine myself to the precise arl rangement of the parts as herein described,

as a number of slight changes can be made in the same without departing from the spirit ot my invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in a tobacco lath holder, of a frame having an opening in which the lath is held and a clamp pivoted to said frame and enga-ging with the lath through a recess in the side of said opening, with a rod connecting said frame and clamp IOO and constructed to operate said clamp, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, in a tobacco-121th holder, of a frame, A, having an opening 5 in which the 121th is held extending back of.

the clamp, and a clamp,' B, pivoted to said frame for the purpose of securing the lath in said opening, with a rod connecting said frame and clamp and constructed to operate the clamp, substantially as specified.

JOHN B. CAUGHEY. Witnesses:

GEO. A. LANE, WVM. R. GERHART. 

